From left, Arts Access director Eileen Murray, artist Cindy Shanks and Matheny president Steve Proctor.
Three artists from Matheny’s Arts Access Program attended the opening reception on May 19 for “New Jersey Medical School – ARTS,” an exhibit on display in the Medical Science Building of UMDNJ in Newark from May through August. The artists – Jessica Evans, Luis Rodriguez and Cindy Shanks – had paintings in the exhibit, along with nine other Arts Access artists. Arts Access enables people with disabilities to create fine art, assisted by professional artist-facilitators.
Art from three Arts Access satellite programs – the WAE Center of JSDD (Jewish Services for the Developmentally Disabled of Metrowest, Inc.) in West Orange, NJ; the Arc of Mercer County in Ewing, NJ; and Hattie Larlham in Twinsburg, Ohio – are part of the ARTS exhibit as well. In fact, staff members from Hattie Larlham, a facility for children and adults with developmental disabilities, visited Matheny on May 20 to spend the day with Arts Access staff members and artists.
Jessica Evans in front of her painting, “Trapped and I Can’t Get Out.”
